Speaking

In 2013, I set a goal for myself. To speak in public at least once every month. Why? I wanted to share my perspective of being a woman in tech, build my consulting business, and conquer my stage fright. And it worked! Today, I enjoy giving talks and being on panels, and I’ve had the pleasure of speaking at more than one hundred events. I’ve even given a TEDx talk and had a brief cameo on the TODAY show.

I give keynotes about workplace inclusion, public speaking, and women in tech. My most popular talks are:

Everyday Actions to Be a Better Ally, where I share top tips to create more inclusive workplaces, curated from my book Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces

“Women in Tech: The Missing Force”
TEDx College of William & Mary, April 2014

“That was freakin’ awesome.”Audience member at Karen’s talk at AWS Re:invent 2018

“When we invited Karen Catlin and Poornima Vijayashanker to give a talk about their book, “Present! A Techie’s Guide to Public Speaking,” I knew they would give a great presentation. What I didn’t expect was that they would attract the largest audience we’ve ever had at our lunchtime speaker series. Nor could I have anticipated the immediate impact of their talk. The very next day, at our engineering all-hands, there was a visible improvement in the quality of the talks and the confidence of the speakers.”Christine Rimer, Survey Monkey Product Operations

“I thoroughly enjoyed Karen Catlin’s “A Field Guide for Allies” talk. She achieved a perfect balance of humor while addressing a serious topic that affects many women in the tech workplace.”Tom Dial, FactSet Research Systems

“Thank you so much for being the keynote speaker at our 2nd annual Women in STEM Summit. You were a big hit! Your stories about stepping outside of your comfort zone resonated with students, faculty and industry leaders at our summit, and you inspired everyone with the tips you shared from your book. Your keynote made a lasting impression on our audience, and brought our summit to a new level.”Mary Church, Assistant Director of Development, Florida Polytechnic University

“Karen gave an inspiring keynote speech for Hack@Brown 2016 about ditching your comfort zone, which was an important theme for the weekend. Many participants called it the best keynote they’ve ever heard, and people continued referencing her talk throughout the hackathon. Her talk had an awesome impact.”Mackenzie Clark, Co-founder Hack@Brown

“I saw Karen speak at the Watermark Conference for Women, and found her talk to be inspirational, polished (yet not stiff, she put me at ease), and practical. It was perfect for the audience. I am inspired to do more public speaking as a result.Meghan Boots, Marketing Strategist, Adobe Systems

“You are an amazing moderator! Thank you for making us relax beforehand and for preparing us to make the best of our panel.”Consuelo Valverde, Founder & Managing Partner, SV LATAM Fund, and Founder & Managing Director, ZFunction University

“You did a truly masterful job of moderating the SVForum panel. I truly appreciate all the thoughtful effort you put into planning to make this such a successful event.”Francine G, Chair, SVForum Tech Women

“Had the pleasure of listening to Karen Catlin talk about Turning Risk into Opportunity. Karen is a great public speaker—poised, at ease, inclusive of the other panelists. She made specific and thoughtful comments with revealing examples. All while not ambling about and droning on. One of my many take-aways was to reframe the inner conversation to one that focuses on the upside of doing something risky, not just all the negative what-if’s.”Elisabeth W., Interaction Design Consultant

“Karen was engaging and inspirational as she shared her career story and the reasons why gender diversity is critical for software teams. I highly recommend Karen for your panel!”Judy B., Sr. Director Business Development at ForgeRock